Daimond Scales and Silver Hearts
by Bara Youkai
Summary: Brambly Hedge cave is a newly established and in a prime spot. With only a handful of males and even fewer females will they be able to defend thier cave and families?


**Unknown Future**

Sora lazily raised his head from the cave floor. He heard a small rustling from the corner of the cave donated to their egg's nest. His guardian dragon instincts taking over, he raised his head subtly and pounced in one fluid movement. "_Ooof_" He heard in his head, since dragons communicate telepathically. "_Miyuki_?" Sora thought towards his mate. Miyuki was a white dragon. She was a smaller than her mate and pure white with the tawny exception of her chest and wing tips. Unlike most dragons, her wings were covered in feathers like a dove's. Grunting apologetically, he softly lifted himself off her. "_Sora. Again? You think you would start to realize that your mate needs to take care of your little at night too._" Miyuki playfully flicked her tail and him and turned back to tend their egg. She touched her velvety warm muzzle to the side of the egg, judging the temperature. Turning his head to peak around his mate, he stared in amazement at the little egg that had been produced by his and his mate's joining. The egg was a soft sky blue with a white mark in the shape of a maple leaf on its side. At the very top of the egg the small crack had expanded. "_It's hatching_! " Sora roared in delight, lashing his tail around. Miyuki laughed in a gentle ringing tone. "_It won't hatch for a while yet. The little one just needs a bit more fresh air, and be quieter, remember the last time you woke up the others over the little one?_ " Sora gave an affirmative grunt. Their quarters were near to the unmated male dragons' quarters. Sora and Miyuki was the first mated pair in Brambly Hedge cave. Their DragonLady had recently started the cave. DragonLords and DragonLadies were humans who abandoned society to raise dragons, a crime considered equal to being a witch or wizard. If anyone is found in possession of a dragon, dragon egg, or hatchling it is an instant death sentence to you and to the dragon.

Sora and his eggmates were the first eggs his DragonLady had taken to raise. Out of all the dragons in the cave he was the only one that hadn't been abandoned. Instead his DragonLady had stolen him out of his nest when he was only an egg. Sora held no remorse for this though for she had loved him and given him the best life she could provide. When he was a hatchling their DragonLady had to hunt for the wild game to feed them. He could remember many nights when she had either not been successful bringing home game or had barely brought enough for a mouthful for all of them. When they had grown wings they all tried their luck at hunting. After that they often had full bellies and now that they were adults they made sure that everyone in their cave never went hungry. Despite this Sora rarely hunted for himself. Instead he spent most of his time guarding the cave members. In exchange for this protection the others often brought game to feed him. The cave their DragonLady had chosen was one of the best caverns Sora had seen in the area. The wooded forest right out the front of the cave was full of game and it was large enough even for their growing numbers. Most of the comparable caves near to it were full of fierce and powerful dragons; no possible way a new DragonLady with only a few hatchlings to her name could take over. Instead, their DragonLady had hunted the hills and forests high and low, finally finding their cave hidden in a highly unexpected spot. With not even a hill insight, the cave the large cave network stood proudly in the middle of the forest. Only the large entrance of it could be seen from outside because most of the tunnels and larger caverns were hidden deep underground, giving it the deceitful appearance of not even being big enough for a dragon.

Sora had a very interesting relationship with his eggmates. Reikoku was calm and proud Black dragon. He became CaveLeader because he was the first to hatch, strongest of all of them, and possibly the wisest. He could be gentle when necessary but was often very fierce or very quiet, both of which were quite creepy. Sora had never felt the need to fight him for the right of becoming CaveLeader, nor had any of the males that had hatched after them. Ayame was often not around, then and now, for she had a strong love of flying. Before she had grown her leaves she spent long hours jumping off of trees and other high objects. When you could get her on the ground, she was insanely bubbly and energetic with an extremely short attention span. Sora play fought with Reikoku some when they were growing up, he didn't often socialize with Ayame as he though she was too flippant and ditzy, but his true companion when he was growing up was Nana, a sleek sapphire colored Water dragon. When they were young they played constantly with each other. When they grew up they flirted with each other incessantly. In fact Sora had rather fancied himself in love with her. That was until he met Miyuki. This gave him and Nana quite an interesting relationship now. She had taken it fairly well when he told her of his intention to ask Miyuki to be his mate, only protesting that they hadn't even courted yet and she had only just become an adult. This was all perfectly true, but Miyuki and Sora spent a lot of time together when Miyuki was a hatchling. He only had developed a love for her after she had grown her wings. He knew it was a very inappropriate feeling to have for the little one and so tried to crush it, but it had only grown into an obsession. Little did he know the little hatchling had been harboring the same emotions for him since she had hatched. So a day after she matured they became mates and their darling little one was born.

Small scratching sounds came from the wall by the opening, rousing Sora from his thoughts. "_Who's there?"_ Sora thought at the door, uttering a small growl. "_Us_" came the short reply. It was obvious from the soft confident tone of the thought that it was Reikoku. Pushing the heavy drape from the cave opening, Reikoku entered with the anti-social Murasaki by his side. Murasaki was one of Miyuki's three eggmates. She was one of the reasons Miyuki had grown up surrounded by adults, instead of hatchlings, for playmates. Murasaki always went off in the forest by herself when she was a hatchling, never letting anyone follow her. When she was at home in the cave, the only person she ever talked to was their DragonLady who acted as the mother for all of the foundling hatchlings and eggs. Recently since Sora and Miyuki became mates Reikoku and Murasaki had started courting. It seemed to be having a positive effect on Murasaki and she was even started to occasionally talk to her cavemates.

Reikoku confidentially strolled near their nest and shoved his nose near the egg. Both Miyuki and Sora growled. "_Don't have a heart attack; I have no reason to harm one of my newest cavemates_." Reikoku laughed as he pulled his nose away. "_Why are you and Murasaki awake and visiting?_" Sora asked stiffly, not yet forgiving him. "_Miyuki, Murasaki, why don't you take a walk around the cave?_" Reikoku asked, avoiding Sora's question and gaze. "_Of course CaveLord."_ Miyuki thought with a genteel and elegant bow of her head. Turning, she and Murasaki left the chamber. "_What did you wish to talk to me about that you couldn't say in from of the dragonesses?_" Reikoku made eye contact with Sora, but Reikoku's expression was stony. "_This evening I saw a mint dragon flying low over the cave. I've seen him around a lot recently._" Sora bristled at Reikoku's comment. "_Do you think he is a scout?_" "_That's what I fear._" Reikoku sighed. "_I don't want to alarm everyone yet, especially the females but…_" "_Have you spoken to our DragonLady yet?_" Reikoku hesitated for a moment. "_Yes, she said we should approach the issue slowly. It might have just been a wild one._" "_Wild ones aren't good news either. We don't have much strength._" Sora shook his head broodingly, looking around regretfully. "_I don't want to bring Miyuki's and my little one into a war."_ Reikoku sighed heartily _"I was not the one who decided to have a child, that was your and Miyuki's risk, but it is true I don't want to lose any cavemates, no matter how young they are."_ Reikoku told him, casting an affectionate glance at the egg. "_Your and Miyuki's egg will be the first born in our cave. I would love to give the little one a safe and secure life, but it doesn't seem like that's going to happen._" "_Well, I guess all we can do is hope for the best. Maybe it was just a fluke_." Sora suggested hopefully. "_It is quite a possibility", _Reikoku considered_ "There have been no forms of aggression from them. That might just be because they don't know our strength or numbers yet_."


End file.
